4th August

Mild easterly winds succeeded in pushing some of the flocks of East coast migrants our way. Early doors saw movements of flycatchers and warblers through the tops of the garden trees and the crown estate showed some early promise with the first net holding a Pied Flycatcher, a Willow Warbler and a Common Whitethroat.  Migrant totals for the day came to 64 Willow Warblers, 14 Pied Flycatchers, 3 Sedge Warblers, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Wheatear, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 8 Sand Martins and 30 Swallows. Notable by their absence were yesterdays Swift flock with just 6 being recorded all day. The sea, once again, put on an average display with 5 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, 3 Common Scoter, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, 1 Ringed Plover and 3 Turnstone.

A small level of excitement at Ferrybridge as the variety of waders increased this morning with: 1  Greenshank, 3 Sanderling, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Turnstone, 37 Ringed Plovers and 17 Dunlin. A single Yellow Wagtail was also of note, with a supporting cast of 5 Little Terns (2 juvs), 1 Sandwich Tern and 3 Yellow-legged Gulls

There was greater quantity if not quality of moths trapped in the previous night with 119 Diamond-back Moths, 42 Silver Y's, 21 Dark Sword Grass, 3 Rusty-dot Pearl and 1 Rush Veenes. 

This Scarce Silver Y from Debby Saunders in Southwell is a first record for Portland and probably for Dorset. Although there is a resident population within the UK, vagrants are likely to have come from populations further North © Debby Saunders: